Letter XXXVIII. To a Lady

The Saint consoles her mi her sjnritual dryness.

Certainly, my dear daughter, it is not that I have not a heart very tender for you; but I am so harassed by encumbrances that I cannot write when I wish, and, again, your trouble, which is no other thing than dryness and aridity, cannot be remedied by letter. It is necessary personally to hear your little accidents, and after all, patience and resignation are their only cure: after the winter of these coldnesses the holy summer will arrive, and we shall be consoled.

Alas! my daughter, we are always attached to smoothness, sweetness, and delicious consolations; but the rigour of dryness is more fruitful: and though St. Peter loved Mount Thabor, and avoided Mount Calvary, yet the latter fails not to be more profitable than the other; and the blood shed in the one is better than the brightness shed over the other. Our Lord already treats you as a brave daughter, so be something of one. It is better to eat bread without sugar than sugar without bread.

The disquiet and grief which are caused you by the knowledge of your nothingness, are not desirable; for while the cause of it is good, the effect is not. No, my child, for this knowledge of our nothingness should not trouble us, but soften, humble and abase us; it is self-love which makes us become impatient when we see ourselves vile and abject. So then I conjure you by our common love, who is Jesus Christ, to live quite consoled and quite tranquil in your infirmities. I will glory in my infirmities, says our great St. Paul, that the strength of my Saviour may dwell in me;* yes, for our misery serves as a throne for the sovereign goodness of our Lord.

I wish you a thousand blessings. O Lord, bless the heart of my dearest child, and make it burn as a * 2 Cor. xii. 9.

3 5 8 kSV. Francis de Sales.

holocaust of sweetness unto the honour of your love! May she seek no other contentment than yours, nor require other consolation than to be perfectly consecrated to your glory! May Jesus be for ever in the midst of this heart, and this heart for ever in the midst of Jesus! May Jesus live in this heart, and this heart in Jesus!